News Flash: Spiel des Jahres Winner Announced, New Expansions

Spiel des Jahres Winner
The 2016 Spiel des Jahres winner was announced this week. Codenames brought home the honor. “Codenames from designer Vlaada Chvátil and publisher Czech Games Edition has won the 2016 Spiel des Jahres, Germany's game of the year award."
Source: https://boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/56073/codenames-wins-2016-spiel-des-jahres-isle-skye-cla

New Expansion Announced for Castle Panic
Fireside Games has announced a third expansion for Castle Panic. "Engines of War introduces an Engineer and new Resources that add a light economic mechanic. And, of course, new Monsters with their own Siege Engines threaten the Castle!"
Source: http://us7.campaign-archive1.com/?u=00fa374474b9bd287eff019ec&id=82b20db4a9&e=190493187d

New Expansion for Tiny Epic Galaxies
Gamelyn Games has announced a new expansion for Tiny Epic Galaxies. “In Tiny Epic Galaxies: Beyond the Black, players have access to four new ships that they can upgrade their original ships to.”
Source: http://www.gamelyngames.com/tiny-epic-galaxies-going-beyond-black/

Dwarves in Trouble Kickstarter Launched
Hex Games has just launched a Kickstarter for Dwarves in Trouble, a fifteen to twenty minute card game for 3 to 4 players. “Dwarves in Trouble is an easy and witty non-collectible card game. Players take the roles of Dwarf Treasure Seekers who are trying to survive an encounter with a furious dragon.”
Source: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hexgames/dwarves-in-trouble

Gen Con Survival Guide
If you are headed to Gen Con this year, you might want to check out this Gen Con survival guide that Board Game Geek has put together.
Source: https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1608123/gen-con-2016-beginners-and-survival-guide

Interview with Matthew Leacock
Time has an interview with Pandemic creator Matthew Leacock. “Two years ago, Leacock, 45, left a longtime career as a user experience designer for Silicon Valley firms like AOL and Yahoo to go into game design full-time. One of his creations, Pandemic, remains one of the best-selling board games on Amazon after being released in 2009.”
Source: http://time.com/4385490/board-game-design/

Reviews of the Board Game of the Year Nominees
Ars Technica has written a roundup and review of all the "Board Game of the Year" nominees.
Source: http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2016/07/the-2016-board-game-of-the-year-nominees-reviewed-2/1/

New Reviews This Week
Escape the Room: Mystery at the Stargazer’s Manor (Geek and Sundry): “The game is played with a series of tasks, found in one of five envelopes; each of these envelopes has a puzzle and a symbol on the front. If you think you’ve solved a particular puzzle, you turn to a nifty solution wheel and dial your solution.”
Source: http://geekandsundry.com/escape-the-room-mystery-at-the-stargazers-manor/

Happy Salmon (Meeple Town): “Now Happy Salmon is here, and it’s one of the shortest board games ever made, with some of the cutest packaging ever made.”
Source: http://meepletown.com/2016/07/review-happy-salmon/

Piratoons (iSlaytheDragon): “It’s easy to learn and quick to play. It scores high on the “let’s go again” meter as the losing players often want to try again right away. It’s interactive and leads to a lot of trash talking and silliness around the table.
Source: http://meepletown.com/2016/07/review-happy-salmon/